United Hi Tech Inc

Most American companies have difficulty selling products in Japan. A small Van Nuys firm has proved an exception. It has been profitably exporting everything from oil tank cleaning systems to customized Chevrolet vans, souped-up motorcycles and studio lighting systems to Japan for more than a decade. "American products are so salable in Japan, if they just had a touch," said Tadabumi Takasu, 47, a Japanese-born electrical engineer who founded United Hi-Tech Inc. in 1983.

Most American companies have difficulty selling products in Japan. A small Van Nuys firm has proved an exception. It has been profitably exporting everything from oil tank cleaning systems to customized Chevrolet vans, souped-up motorcycles and studio lighting systems to Japan for more than a decade. "American products are so salable in Japan, if they just had a touch," said Tadabumi Takasu, 47, a Japanese-born electrical engineer who founded United Hi-Tech Inc. in 1983.